Amandeep Kaur Chahal turns disappointment into motivation to reignite her netball career

SINGAPORE – Disappointment can serve as a powerful motivator and that was exactly the case for Amandeep Kaur Chahal in 2019.

Amandeep, who was part of the national Under-21 squad, had just been dropped for the 2019 Asian Youth Netball Championship in Japan.

While it was “heart-wrenching” to miss out, the omission only made her more determined to improve.

“It made me hungrier to come back. I was like, I can do this. Nothing comes easily, so you have to fight for it, and your friends on court, when it comes to it, they’re also your competition,” said Amandeep, who plays goal shooter and goal attack.

“So you need to always put up a good fight and believe in yourself, know that what you’re going to be doing is worthwhile.”

It led to Amandeep making some changes to her training routine, which proved to be crucial to her progress in the sport.

She started diligently doing her recovery runs, which she would sometimes skip in the past.

With the help of a spotter, she also began to lift heavier weights, which she was scared of doing before for fear of injuring or embarrassing herself.

Since that setback, the 23-year-old has risen through the ranks steadily and will be making her World Cup debut at the July 28-Aug 6 competition in Cape Town, South Africa.

With an average age of 26, this is the youngest squad that Singapore will field at the quadrennial event, where the world No. 28 side have been drawn in Group C with five-time champions and world No. 2 New Zealand, Uganda (No. 8), and Trinidad and Tobago (No. 11).

Looking back on her disappointment four years ago, Amandeep said: “At that moment, it was pretty heart-wrenching to know that you couldn’t make it and you see all your friends going out to play. But, reflecting on it, I understand why I got dropped.

“I realised that if you want to do this, you’d rather put your 100 per cent effort into it than regret not doing this or that.”

This is the mindset that Amandeep has had over the past few years as she was recalled to the Under-21 squad and then the development squad.

She also enjoyed a standout season with Sneakers Stingrays in 2022, earning her a call-up to the Opens team.

While Amandeep took some time to settle into the senior side, she feels like her confidence has grown with each experience, having taken part in the PacificAus Netball Series in Sydney, and the Asian Netball Championship and Nations Cup in Singapore in 2022.

National coach Annette Bishop felt that it has been fantastic to see the 1.72m attacker’s progress.

She said: “She is calm and composed... She’s got a lovely natural shot. She is quite small competing on the world stage but that doesn’t stop her from being able to just move into the small spaces that we need her to.”

Bishop is also backing her young charges to show what they can do on the world stage, with other competitions like October’s MiRXES Nations Cup and the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand also on their minds.

She said: “It is the youngest squad when we look at it experience-wise as well... These girls have been out there on the international stage, we’ve had the luxury to be able to play teams from the Pacific Islands and also toured Australia and Africa, taste all different styles, which is a bonus.

“We came off a very successful tour to South Africa and they played some really nice netball and that’s all I’m asking – that they go out and showcase what we can do on the court together as a unit.”